Where to eat in Vancouver's rejuvenated Chinatown

A fresh spate of bold pan-Asian experimentation in Chinatown
is bringing life back to one of Vancouver's oldest
neighbourhoods.

First Gastown, then Railtown. Now Vancouver's rundown Chinatown
is appearing on the business plans of ambitious chefs and
entrepreneurs. Just east of Downtown, Chinatown is one of the
city's oldest neighbourhoods, once the centre of dining, shopping
and cultural life for generations of Chinese immigrants.

In the 1990s well-heeled Chinese Canadians began shifting to the
flash southern suburb of Richmond, and Chinatown entered slow
decline. The gentrification of Gastown since the 1970s and adjacent
Railtown more recently has turned them into Vancouver's liveliest
districts and saved much of their industrial Victorian-era
architecture. The lower rents in neighbouring Chinatown account for
some of its appeal. Among a raft of new eateries are German
street-food joint Bestie, Catalan-inspired tapas bar East of Main,
the buck-a-shuck Oyster Express, and The Pie Shoppe,
whose salted honey and walnut-and-bourbon pies are a novel
alternative to the egg tarts and coconut buns of Chinatown's
traditional bakeries.

There's a nod to the district's pan-Asian roots at stylish
venues such as The Union, which has bahn mi and pad Thai on
its pub-food menu. The Keefer Bar mixes drinks such as a Dragon
Fly of gin, sake and ginger syrup. And beneath the stuffed animal
heads mounted on exposed brick walls at Mamie Taylor's,
a young crowd orders share plates of cocktail-friendly North
American-Asian fusion: fried chicken with peach mustard, perhaps,
or slow-roasted pork with charred avocado. Some residents argue
that Chinatown redux is hastening the exit of traditional
businesses with more affordable goods and services, and eroding the
neighbourhood's character. Others say Chinatown can't remain a Qing
dynasty relic. For now, Chinese laundries and roast-duck shops
coexist with new cafés and bars.